The No. 11 Flyers have certainly shaken off their Atlantic 10 tournament loss to St. Joseph’s by ripping off consecutive upsets in the tournament.

Dayton has dispatched Ohio State and Syracuse using a stingy defense and match up well with a Cardinal team that has averaged just 59 points in their last three games.

Why pick Stanford to cover the spread

No. 10 seed Stanford’s win over New Mexico wasn’t that big of a surprise. The win over Kansas, however, was earth-shattering for many who believed the Jayhawks were headed to the Final Four.

Stanford likes to play a defensive game as well, allowing no more than 63 points to six of its last seven opponents, going 5-2 in those games. The Cardinal have also been solid when favored, winning 10 of 12 games recently in this role.

Smart betting pick

It’s very tough to argue either side of this game when there’s a good rebuttal for both. Dayton is on an 8-3 against-the-spread run as an underdog this season, so you can expect the Flyers to have their defensive game on point in this one.

But the line is too short to count out the stingy Cardinal, who have stayed UNDER in six of their last seven. Look for both these teams to play it tight and the total to stay low.